46 
CIRCULAR 
House 
Garden 
THE 
This circular garden 
is set with a rose- 
rimnied pool from 
which flagstone paths 
lead in fotir direc¬ 
tions—to the house, 
the tennis court, ar¬ 
bor and lawn. A 
jet marks the center 
The plan indicates 
the nicely secluded 
character of the gar¬ 
den, with its tall and 
robust enclosure of 
shrubs which makes 
an almost continuous 
display. C. S. Le Stire, 
landscape architect 
GARDEN 
A Type of Design Eminently 
Suited to the Small Place 
CHARLES S. LE SURE 
F or a type so graceful in appearance. 
and so simple and direct in design, it 
is curious that the circular garden should 
be one of the most neglected. Perhaps a 
reason for this may be found in the fact 
that its shape has so little in common with 
the shape of the usual site; but there is no 
reason why a garden should not be circular 
inside and any shape outside that seems 
appropriate to its situation. If, for ex¬ 
ample, a circular garden is planned to go 
in the rectangular end of a plot it is only 
necessary to fill in the gaps between the two 
different shapes with compact masses of 
shrubs, planted on the inside to follow the 
shape of the garden and on the outside to 
fit the shape of whatever lies beyond. 
About the garden illustrated here are 
planted just such compact masses of shrubs. 
The enclosure which they form follows the 
inside shape of the garden exactly, but it 
also makes the transition between this cir¬ 
cular shape on the inside and four distinct 
lawn spaces on the outside. From any of 
these lawns it is impossible to tell that a 
circular garden lies within these shrubbery 
masses. If the garden were enclosed by a 
form-fitting hedge or lattice and set undis¬ 
guised in the center of the lawn, its shape, 
having nothing in common with the shape 
of the lawn, might seem somewhat uncom¬ 
promising and a bit disturbing. But treated 
as it is here there is harmony on both sides. 
The garden shown here is built around 
a pool. The inside path of flagstones forms 
the coping of the pool and separates the 
latter from the first circular bed, which is 
devoted to roses. Outside this bed another 
concentric path separates the roses from 
the perennials, which have for their back¬ 
ground the shrub enclosure. Thus the 
whole planting has been cleverly devised 
to increase in height from the lily-padded 
pool in the center of the garden to the out¬ 
side rim, where tall delphiniums stand 
against the shrubs. The roses are hybrid 
teas; the perennials such things as Shasta 
daisies, delphiniums, iris, peonies, fox¬ 
gloves, sweet '\\hlliams, Canterbury bells 
and the like. 
One of the fine things about a circular 
garden is that it may be approached with 
equal effectiveness from any angle. There 
is always the central feature to engage the 
eye. Here, for instance, with paths enter¬ 
ing from four directions, none is given 
particular precedence over the other, but 
all are greeted with splendid impartiality. 
Simple arbors, hung with Tausend- 
schon roses, mark the entrance from the 
house and the entrance from the tennis 
court opposite. The other cross path con¬ 
nects the service section of the grounds with 
the garden and ends upon a garden house 
set deep in the shrubbery beyond the pool. 
